When the bomb exploded, I was just down the road, at the food/water area. I heard the bomb and looked back to see what had happened. I saw the cloud of smoke rising into the sky and I immediately started walking to the hotel. Immediately, the ambulances and police started to roll toward the bomb area. We stayed at the Park Plaza hotel which is about a 1/2 mile from the finish line. As I walked, my thoughts went to my friends in the hotel room. I was in the 3rd coral, so I knew they should all be in the hotel and safe. I knew they would be worried about me, so I walked as fast as I could, post marathon (not very fast).

When I arrived , one of my friends hugged me. I thought she was hugging because of the bomb situation, but I quickly realized it was a congratulatory hug instead. I immediately told them what I had witnessed and that we needed to turn the TV on. We stayed together the rest of the afternoon, watching, worrying about the victims, and wondering WHY ? Why, we may never know.

My intention is to NOT let the terrorists change my way of life. I will not fear the marathon, I will not alter my run, I will not let them win. I will move forward and be thankful for my life. I will continue to pray for the victims, their families, and our country.

In moving forward, I will celebrate the day, the awesome day, up until the time the bomb went off.

Patriots Day in Boston is a super, mid-April tradition, that will not be destroyed by evil.

Before the Bomb:

BQ 1 - 2010 - 4:08

BQ2 - 2013 - 3:57

Terri and I arrived in Boston on Fri night. Sat. we spent most of the day at the expo and shopping at some of the sporting goods stores. We had lunch at P.F. Changs, and then a little more post-lunch shopping. We rested for a bit and went to dinner. Sunday - we went to the 5k to support our friend J. who was running the 5k. We left the cell phones in the room so we couldn't connect with J. prior to the race. Terri and I tried to spot J. as all of the runners passed - fail ! We needed to run 3 miles, so we followed the 5k course. We connected with our friends post-race. J. ended the morning with a 5k PR - congrats J. ! G. - walk/ran the 5k and chatted along the way. We met T. & M. for lunch at an Irish Pub. The rest of the day, Terri and I lounged in the hotel room. Sunday night was Panera Bread - and race prep.

This is where the plan went awry. Prior to our trip to Boston, I had printed pace bands for my A, B, and C goal. A -3:45 - based on my Top of Utah PR of 3:43

B - qualify for Boston on the Boston course, (3:55)

C - run a "course PR" at Boston (2010 - 4:08)

With all of the shopping and marathon chat, I got sucked into the danger zone - going for a BIG goal. I even printed some new pace bands with faster paces/goals. Sunday night, I totally changed my mind, went totally optimistic ( unrealistic & crazy), and printed 3:42.

As Marathon Monday unfolded, I was on 8:34 pace for 16 miles. Early in the marathon, I was surprised. Number 1 - surprised at how tough the course was,

Number 2 - surprised how one can FORGET how tough the course is,

Number 3 - and why did I want to do this again?

By the time I made it to the Newton area, I was fatiguing. Although I was feeling some fatigue, I thought I would be able to hold a pace to get me to the Boston course BQ, with little doubt. That was not to be. As the hills continued, and increased in size, the fatigue grew. I had made a big mistake, a rookie mistake. Hindsight - had I gone with the pre-printed, slower (realistic) goal, I have NO DOUBT in my mind, I would have met my goal to BQ on the Boston course. In many ways I'm disappointed. This was marathon number 25 for me. After 25 marathons, you learn some things along the way. I learned LONG AGO, that for ginny, aggressive goals never work out. It DOESN"T ! I do not have one marathon on record, out of 25, where going out too fast has been good for me, and yet, I decided Sunday night to go for the BIG goal, which translated into too fast for me. DUMB !

Mixed Emotions:

in many ways, I'm disappointed that I made the rookie mistake - I've already learned this along the way - going big - with fast paces early on, does not work for me. (noted again :)

in some ways, I'm ok with it. we often say, "you never know until you try." I was going for the BIG race. I went for it, and didn't make it. I choose not to beat myself up for "going for it." Yes, I was too aggressive with my goal, and yes it was not a wise choice, but I leave Boston, knowing that I "went for it" and "I tried." (I was curious if I could "do it" - now I know - not yet - question answered).

Yes, I'm sad I missed the BQ, but I choose to focus on the more positive side of the day.

I train on hills the majority of the time, but our MS hills do not come close to the hills from Hopkinton to Boston. Most reading about the Boston course focuses on the hills from 16-21, and make the rest of the course sound relatively easy. This is so not true for me. It wasn't true in 2010, and it wasn't in 2013. For me, this course is 26.2 miles of hills, tough from mile 1 - 26.2.

Lesson of the weekend -typically, I'm a "realist". For me, it's smart and works for me. It's how I live my life in general. Sunday night I changed my realistic Boston goal, to a very aggressive & optimistic goal. So I return from Boston with a reminder course in what works for me. Stay REAL ginny !

So here's the thing:

In 2010, I finished with a 4:08. After Boston 2010, I vowed to become a better hill runner.

In 2013, I finished with 3:57, a sub 4:00 on the Boston course.

CHECK ! Mission accomplished ! With this, I can not be disappointed.

This is what I choose to focus on now.

Thank you Soccer Locker & City Runners for giving me the opportunity to return to Boston and "go for it!" I leave Boston 2013 knowing, without a doubt, that I AM a BETTER hill runner than before.

-start out slower than you think/want, for 1-10-13 - prepare yourself for the Wellesley girls - awesome !-Boston college - another great crowd boost area -extra lbs. are not beneficial to hill racing - seriously - it's NOT!

I couldn't speak intelligently, just in awe and excited to meet him. Khalid and Mustafa own Soccer Locker and City Runners - a local running store. I found out back in Sept., 2012, that SL&CR selected Terry and I to go to Boston, expenses paid. The shock still hasn't worn off, or faded. After months, I'm still honored and excited.

We fly to Boston on Friday - EXCITEMENT ! Once again, Chad has a Redfish tournament on marathon weekend, so we are both in different states, participating in our passions. While it's kind of sad that he will not be with me, in Boston this time, I'm happy that he is passionate about his tournaments. Terri and I will make the trip, and have a girls weekend. Fun times in Beantown ahead !

The weather is looking great for Monday. Thanks to Soccer Locker & City Runners, I have to opportunity for a Boston re-do, and I'm ready. When I ran Boston in 2010, I was not prepared for the hills on the course. Three years later, and I feel much better prepared. Since B-2010, I've worked on running some hilly marathons - Mt. Desert Island, ME (Oct. 2011) and Blue Ridge, VA marathon (April 2012). This spring, I included the Blues half marathon in Jackson, MS and the Mercedes half in Birmingham, AL as part of my hill training. For the past year, hills have been the focus of the training that Terri and I have been doing. I hope to go back this year and have a totally different experience.

The training:

*I've been doing a McMillan training plan

*during the last 10 wks of my training, I've logged 545 miles

*I max'ed out with an 80 mile week (a personal record for weekly mileage)

I know I'm only competing against myself I set goals and work hard to accomplish themI understand the power of the human willI strive to help others in their quest for successI know that I can face whatever road lies ahead I am not satisfied with the status quoMy true self shines through I am a Marathoner

My New Favorite Quote

Ginny

Southern Runner with BIG Goals

I am a 40 something year old runner who still has big running dreams and goals, and a lot to say about that and other things, but mostly running/yoga/a healthy lifestyle, with the occasional "falling off the wagon" in the healthy eating part.

Marathons

This is a brief run down of my marathoning journey. It's been a long slow process and I have enjoyed almost, every minute of it. I hope I have a few more prs in me, but if not, 3:49 was a major goal for me. I can live with that, but maybe , just maybe, I can go faster. To be continued......

1. Dec. 2003 First Light Mobile5:29 trained to walk the whole marathon. Got caught up in the hype and ran the first 4 miles when, at the time, I was not running at all. After the first 4 miles, I walked the rest - except I did jog a few downhills.2. Jan 2004 Blue Marathon Pensacola 5:18 - still walking at this point with a little jogging (I think).3. Nov. 2004 - Stennis 5:04 - still walking with some jogging4. Jan 2005 First Light5:06 - still walking with a little more jogging5.Feb. 2005 Mardi Gras4:54 - First marathon to run the whole way, except water stops. I continued to train to walk marathons, but I was adding a little more jogging. I started out jogging and about half way through I decided I was going to try to jog the whole thing. Not a smart thing to do, but it worked ok - no injuries - lucky girl - don't try this. In my mind, at the time, I thought that might be my only chance to run a whole marathon and maybe I could do it, and if I could - I should. Again, dumb idea - don't do it.6. Oct. 2005 Dublin, Ireland 4:31 some hills7. Feb. 2006 Mardi Gras 4:11 flat8. June 2006 San Diego5:06 first and only marathon to "hit the wall" walked the last 6 miles9. Jan 2007 Disney 4:47 HOT10. Feb 2007 Austin 4:31 hilly11. Nov. 2007 Stennis3:59:20 flat12. Jan 2008 Disney4:08 Warm13. Jan 2009 Houston 3:59:0414. Sept. 2009 Tupelo, MS 4:18 Training run for St. George in Oct.15. Oct. 3, 2009 St. George Marathon 3:49:17 PR and BQ. (Lucky number 15) (26.24)16. April 19, 2010 114th running of the Boston Marathon 4:08:16 - Tough course!17. Oct. 9, 2010 - Run For Life, Madison, MS training run 4:27:42 (26.55)18. Nov. 11, 2010 - Huntsville Marathon - 3:56:49 (26.39)19. March 5th, 2011 Snickers Marathon Albany, GA 3:51:40 Great BQ course! (26.31)20. Sept. 4, 2011 Tupelo Marathon Tupelo, MS - training run - 4:16:1921. Oct. 16, 2011 Mt. Desert Island Marathon Bar Harbor, ME - training run - 4:16:3622. Dec. 3rd, 2011 Baton Rouge Beach Marathon 3:49:31 (BQ (2) - new standards) another great course Baton Rouge, LA (26.35)23. April 21, 2012 Blue Ridge Marathon, Roanoke, VA "America's toughest road marathon" 4:16:08 (26.07 - Garmin)24.Sept. 15, 2012 Top of Utah, Logan, UT 3:43:28 (26.4 - Garmin) great course - low humidity :)25.April 15, 2013 Boston Marathon -3:57 Soccer Locker & City Runner sponsored (Boston course PR for me) (Garmin 26.4)